Washed Away
by Dark Blaze1
Summary: No matter what you do to help someone embrace life, in the end, it's up to that person to want to live... (a story of 01 & 02)


Title: Washed Away By Dark Blaze  
  
Pairing: irrelevant (it's there if you want it to be) Warning: death (the character is already dead), angst  
  
Special note: The story was born out of two nights straight listening to Linkin Park's In The End. Naturally, the BMG to this fic is "In The End". Please note that the live version of the song doesn't match too well with the fic.  
  
Audio can be downloaded at WinMX or at: URL: http://208.34.112.34/lp/Linkin%20Park%20(Live%20In%20Orlando)%20- %20In%20The%20End.zip  
  
Lyrics at  
  
http://www.linkinpark-network.com/lyrics/hybridtheory/intheend.php  
  
Title is a direct suggestion of Jade, a good friend of mine (who, surprisingly, is not a fandom artist/writer)  
  
Thank you.  
  
  
  
Rain. Large droplets of water pouring down to Earth. Branches bent and waved under the heavy downpour, their leaves soaked through. The soil relented and parted to form puddles. And in the cemetary up on the hill, a group of humans stood, dark silhouettes in a plane of gray. Black umbrellas opened wide, pathetic shelters under the savage rain. The dark sihouettes remained gathered in a semi circle until finally the lightning stroke, revealing bowed heads and sad faces, and thunder rolled above the sky in anguished rage. Slowly the circle broke, and one by one the sihouettes parted and left until only the tombstone remained. Cold. Wet. Alone up on the hill, under the downpour.  
  
From a faraway tree, the shadow moved and parted. The figure of a man appeared and walked slowly up the hill into the rain. Drenched soil squeaked under his feet, puddles splashing quietly to stain his shoes and pants, but he didn't care and continued on until he came face to face with the tombstone. Cold droplets dripped from the tip of his hair and nose, from his chin to his chest, from his fingertips, drenching his clothes even more and plastering them to his skin. And still he didn't react, didn't brush the droplets away from his face. His eyes remained open, staring at the tombstone.  
  
There, on the cold surface, read.  
  
Heero Yui 180 - 197 Died with honor May you rest in peace  
  
And he stared, unblinking, sad.  
  
Above, the rain continued to pour down on Earth in a relentless shower.  
  
Underneath, he stood, shoulders slumped as if in defeat, head bowed. Silent. Staring. Before he finally blinked the water away from his eyes.  
  
".. May you rest in peace..."  
  
The voice was quiet, nearly inaudible in the downpour.  
  
"May you rest..." His voice faded away.  
  
The tombstone remained silent. And the silence stretched until finally he blinked again, pushing the droplets away from his eyes.  
  
"... I tried Heero..."  
  
Water continued to drip from his hair, nose, chin, and fingertips.  
  
"I tried what I could..."  
  
Above, the thunder roared again, and for a brief nanosecond, lightning flashed, and the grayness parted to reveal defeated violet eyes.  
  
"You asked me to save you, ne? And I told you ninmu ryoukai. Mission accepted. And I did try my best, Heero. I really did."  
  
Cold droplets continued to wash the tombstone.  
  
"After the war.. I tried to give you a normal civillian life. It wasn't to keep you in a cage, Heero. It was because.. You said you hated the soldier in you. I didn't like doing nothing, Heero. But I said ninmu ryoukai." So he had relented and had taken a job at the salvage yard, then at a repair store, trying to keep a steady income for him and Heero, to keep their small apartment, their old second-hand car, and their normal civillian life. And he had cooked and helped Heero learn to cook, had cleaned and helped Heero learn to do domestic chores, had managed to get Heero a job he had thought Heero might have liked, something that had had nothing to do with being soldiers. And he had thought he had succeeded.  
  
"But you weren't satisfied, and I could read it. I could see it you know."  
  
The tombstone remained silent under the downpour.  
  
"..When Une offered us that job at the Preventers..."  
  
Above, the lightning flashed.  
  
"..I thought it was the perfect solution. Neither of us were really happy with what we were doing. I could see it. We were a soldier and a thief. And as much as you said you hated being a soldier..."  
  
Thunder rolled.  
  
"..Being the defenders and actually doing something was better than pretending to be normal, ne? Or so I thought. And I did say ninmu ryoukai." And so he had suggested them to take the job. And they had taken the job. And for a while he had had everything worked out. He had seen the improvement in Heero's moods. He had seen the strength and determination returning in Heero's stance and grip. He had seen the blue fire returning in Heero's eyes. And for a while, he had thought everything would have been fine.  
  
The lightning flashed.  
  
"I was wrong..."  
  
Thunder roared, sad now.  
  
"Ninmu shippai, Heero. I failed my mission. I couldn't help you." [1]  
  
The rain poured harder, and again the thunder roared, louder, deafening, an anguished scream.  
  
"How could I...?"  
  
His voice wavered under the downpour, a broken whisper.  
  
"How could I help if you didn't want to be helped...?"  
  
Droplets that were not part of the cold rain, warm and salty, rolled down his face and dripped down his chin.  
  
"You always said you never planned to live past the war..."  
  
He had been Heero's partner when it had happened. They had been two of Preventers' best agents, and they had been one of Preventers' best teams. The case they had been assigned to that day had been a relatively easy one. There shouldn't have been casualties.  
  
But Heero had wanted to die. And this time, he hadn't managed to catch the signs fast enough.  
  
They, he, Heero, and two other agents, had broken into the warehouse and had managed to capture all the rebels there, all but one. He and Heero had been the ones to chase the last rebel, and they had chased the rebel up to the roof. And that had been when the bastard had decided to shoot Heero.  
  
His fist clenched hard at the memory as the thunder howled up in the sky. Tiny crimson lines mixed with rain, rolling down his knuckles, and dripped down to Earth.  
  
He had been there, just emerging from the trapdoor to the downpour outside, up on the roof, when the bastard had shot Heero. And he had been frozen, stunned, watching the person he had known to have the ability to dodge a shooting arrow remained frozen in place, staring and unblinking. Then the bullet had hit. And thrown its victim back and to the ground. And he had been frozen, horrified, watching the ground toss his partner up once before accepting it again finally. Time had stood still.  
  
Crimson stain against gray cement, spreading...  
  
It had been painful to watch. It was still painful. He had managed to shoot the bastard in the end, twelve o'clock, dead center. And then he had rushed to Heero. He had tried to help. But Heero had told him to let it be and let him die.  
  
The thunder screamed above him, anguished.  
  
Crimson droplets continued to drip from his hand to the ground.  
  
"Ninmu shippai, Heero.. I failed. I tried what I could, but in the end, it didn't matter. In the end it was still up to you to want to live. And you didn't. In the end... you still got your wish, ne..?"  
  
He closed his eyes.  
  
Lightning flashed above him, washing over his pained face and slumped shoulders. Defeat.  
  
"..Good bye, Heero."  
  
Thunder screamed in agony.  
  
He reached up with his one hand and tugged hard at the crucifix resting against his chest, the chain snapping at his nape, and the cross came off. He let the crucifix dangle from his hand like a pendulum, crimson droplets rolling down the chain to the golden far-end and dripping down to Earth.  
  
"May you rest in peace."  
  
The cross drifted in the air and down to Earth, bounced once, then lay still, a shape of gold and crimson stains against the brown, soaked soil.  
  
His eyes closed, he turned around and walked away. His one empty sleeve waved in the wind, a memento of his encounter with Heero and the final night they had been together. Alive.  
  
Above him, the thunder screamed again. And the rain continued to wash the Earth gray.  
  
~OWARI~  
  
[1] Ninmu shippai = mission failed 


End file.
